


A Misunderstanding or Two

by Fandaround



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Getting Together, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 06:57:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18733933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandaround/pseuds/Fandaround
Summary: Everyone knows about this thing between Pidge and Keith except for themselves, and Lance is somehow unwitting (un)involved.





	A Misunderstanding or Two

Keith blamed Lance; not just for the particularly distracting thoughts he’d been having lately, but for most things that bothered him, if he were being honest. Still, this one was definitely all Lance’s fault because Keith was pretty sure he’d been the first one to point out that Pidge was, indisputably, a girl.

 

The paladins returned from a planet that had been dealing with an invasive microbe sweeping through their population. Although the paladins had successfully worked out how to scour the planet of the deadly bug, it was agreed that they should decontaminate completely before re-entering the castle just in case any residual microbes had made it off the planet alive. They stood through a chemical bath to wash the outside of their suits, then a rinse and dry, and then stripped off their outer layers to go through the whole routine again. It was only after they’d been rinsed and it was safe to open their eyes that Lance blurted out, “Pidge, what are you _wearing_?”

 

They all turned to see just what she _was_ wearing-a tank top and shorts-and for a split second, Keith didn’t know what the hell Lance was talking about. Then he realized, and Pidge must have too, because she crossed her arms across the wet fabric over her chest and practically collapsed in on herself, shrinking away from the eyes of her teammates.

 

“A shirt?” she tried to sound calm, but it sounded almost panicked.

 

“Um-yeah, what are you talking about, Lance?” Hunk asked, cluelessly.

 

“But-you-“ he went red and sputtered for a moment before he managed, “You’re not-!”

 

“Lance,” Keith shot him a dark look, “Don’t you think you’ve embarrassed yourself enough today?”

 

“Hey, _I_ wasn’t responsible for lunch, okay! Hunk knocked the tray over, _not_ me!”

 

“Of course,” Keith rolled his eyes.

 

Keith thought that it was over then, that Lance would bicker with Hunk and it might all be forgotten. He hoped that it was the end of the conversation, because then Pidge would be spared the embarrassment of everyone looking at her, but of course Lance had to keep barreling on, “But still, Pidge, why aren’t you wearing a _bra_?!?”

 

“Lance,” His name came from two directions, as Keith barked it at him and Shiro just said his name disapprovingly and frowned down at him. Shiro looked like he wanted to say more, but Pidge herself beat him to it.

 

“Ex- _cuse_  me?” She practically shouted, arms still crossed over the tank top she wore. Keith was pretty sure he’d never heard her so angry or seen her face so red.

 

“You-!” Lance sputtered some more. “You can’t just walk around like that!”

 

Pidge gave him an incredulous look. “And why _not_?” She asked, obviously channeling a lot of every into keeping her voice calm and reasonable. Instead, she sounded dangerous.

 

“Because-you’re a _girl_!”

 

“ _And_?” Pidge narrowed her eyes.

 

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith growled warningly.

 

“No,” Pidge rounded on Keith, “Let him talk. I want to hear Lance tell me why it’s _such_ a big deal that I’m not dressed _like a girl._ ”

 

Lance looked ready to combust. “What if someone see your-?”

 

“My _what_ -?!”

 

Lance went beet red by he whispered-nearly mouthed the word, “ _Nipples_.”

 

Pidge finally threw up her hands, rolling her eyes and gesturing incredulously towards Lance’s own bare chest.

 

“Yeah, we _know_. He’s a hypocrite.” Keith reached over and tried to tug on one of Lance’s own exposed nipples, but he yelped and managed to dodge.

 

“ _Hey_!”

 

“You’re being a jackass,” Hunk told him calmly.

 

Lance covered his own nipple, daintily protecting them as he side-eyed Keith. “I’m just _saying,”_ he started, but Hunk cut him off.

 

“Yeah, maybe you should _stop_ saying...”

 

“Good idea,” Pidge agreed. “And if they bother you so much, how about you just don’t look?”

 

Keith looked up at Pidge in surprise at her bold response and let out a loud, involuntary snort of laughter that made the rest of the team look his way. He cleared his throat quickly, and was saved by the drying cycle starting, the air rushing past draining out any further conversation or strange looks.

 

* * *

 

Pidge usually trained by herself, except for the occasions where Allura insisted that team Voltron needed to do some team bonding activities. She’d been fighting the gleaming white drones that the training deck provided at progressively higher levels, interspersing the her workouts with weight training and unarmed combat until she’d been able to max out the drone’s level. Now, Pidge was setting a ruthless and intelligent robot on herself twice a week and beating it nearly every time. It was still a good workout, but she needed more of a challenge.

 

First, Pidge tried to upload improved combat techniques to the simulation program, including data from all of the paladins’ own fights against the Galra, but even with the improvements, Pidge could beat it if she stayed focused and put in the effort. She still needed _more_ . It wasn’t until after she’d considered even asking the other paladins to train with her that the answer hit her. She needed to practice with _more drones_. She’d been doing one-on-one combat for months and the moment the thought crossed her mind, Pidge could have kicked herself for not realizing it sooner. So she started with two.

 

Pidge began to duck and dodge and smash her fists into the robots’ faces, extra alert with two circling her now. She took them down in one fell swoop, grabbing one by the neck as she leveraged its body weight to kick the other across the deck and into the wall, then she threw the first to the floor with the momentum from the swing and smashed the back of its head against the floor. Both bots sputtered to a halt, defeated, and Pidge managed to smile to herself for just a moment before a _clap_ rang out across the training deck.

 

 _Clap_. She whipped around, panicked, before his realized that it was Lance and Keith. Lance was clapping slowly, looking over at the two piles of decommissioned robots, impressed.

 

“Nice,” Lance smiled.

 

Pidge relaxed a little. “Thanks.”

 

She took a moment to catch her breath as Lance strolled in. “You wanna keep practicing with us? We could warm up with some of these if you want,” he offered.

 

Pidge eyed him for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay. You should tone it down if you want a warm up,” she warned.

 

Lance waved a hand and told the computer to send out three more without changing any of the settings.

 

“Okay,” Pidge stood up a little straighter, grabbing her bayard from the side of the deck where she’d abandoned it for the last round. As they came out, Pidge watched Lance casually stroll towards them, then promptly hit the ground as one of the drones flattened him on its way to Keith.

 

“Ah, quiznack,” Lance groaned, “Got me by surprise.”

 

Pidge and Keith didn’t respond because by the time Lance had gotten back up to his feet, they were engaged with the drones.

 

“Holy-what level are these set at?” Lance tried to hit one of the ones on Pidge and was grabbed by the arm and thrown back instead.

 

“Max,” Pidge answered shortly, and kneed one so hard in the chest that it fell off balance, giving her an opportunity to dodge the one on her other side and use the staggered drone’s back as a springboard to kick the third one in the head so hard that it fell off. Keith, who had been engaged with that third drone, only hesitated for moment, eyes wide, before he caught another drone in the face with his sword as it flew toward him, dragged by Pidge's bayard.

 

“Oh my god!” Lance ducked as he tried to re-enter the fray, only to be knocked to his feet by a swift kick from the drone. Pidge used that opportunity to wrap her bayard around the thing’s neck and pull, _hard_. It struggled, and in the moment of distraction, Keith took the last drone out of commission with a hard kick across its face.

 

“Whoa,” Lance gaped at them as Pidge and Keith both gasped for breath. “Why did you set it to _max?_  Are you _crazy_? Was it at max for those last two?”

 

“Of course it was,” Pidge frowned. “It’s not very effective training otherwise.”

 

Lance stared at her for a long moment, then blurted stupidly, “But-you’re a girl.”

 

Pidge narrowed her eyes. “Yes, _and?_ ”

 

Keith, still catching his breath, didn’t manage to intervene before Lance said, “You might get _hurt_!”

 

“Are you under the impression that I might get hurt because I’m a girl?” Pidge asked flatly.

 

“Well-“ Lance faltered. “I mean, obviously you’ve been training, but…”

 

“But _what_? I’m a girl, so I can’t fight? _And_ I have to wear what what you think I should wear? And you wonder why I had to cut my quiznacking hair,” she scowled.

 

“But-?” Lance struggled for words and looked to Keith for some backup.

 

Dude,” Keith managed finally. “Just because _you’re_ shit on this training deck doesn’t mean everyone is. You didn’t do _anything_ helpful just now, so maybe we should be worried about _you_? _Stop_ being a jerk already.”

 

Lance clamped his mouth shut. “Right. Sorry...I just-I’ll train later, okay?”

 

Keith kept his eyes in Lance’s sagging shoulders until he’d stepped out, then whipped his head back around as Pidge kicked one of the drone bodies across the floor the moment the door shut.

 

“Hey,” Keith said uncertainly.

 

Pidge sighed, and didn’t respond until Keith had taken another step closer.

 

“Do you think I’m weak?” She caught his eyes, stopping him in his tracks.

 

“Definitely not,” he almost laughed, and waved an arm at the drone body laying next to the wall. “You just sent that guy _flying,_  Pidge. Lance couldn’t even land a hit on him.”

 

Pidge sighed again. “Yeah...but still…”

 

“Pidge, don’t listen to him, okay?”

 

“It’s not just _him_ , though.”

 

“Have the others been jerks too?”

 

She hesitated. “They’re not trying to be _jerks_ , they just...they treat me differently. _You_ even treat me differently. And it’s...it’s so stupid, because sometimes I just want people to stop thinking less of me because I’m a girl, but...other times I...I sort of _want_ to feel like I’m a girl again.”

 

“You can have both, you know,” Keith frowned. “You can be feminine and still kick ass.”

 

“But...I can’t _really_ ,” she protested.

 

Keith bit his bottom lip. “Look, before you told us, everyone but Lance had already figured out that you were a girl. Well, I think Allura had to be told too, but she’s just as clueless as him.” Keith paused. “Anyways, he point is, you _are_ undeniably a girl, and you still kick ass. It’s not like it matters.”

 

Pidge was quiet for a moment, then asked, “How did you know?”

 

Keith blinked. “What?”

 

“How did you know I was a girl, before I said anything?”

 

Keith’s face went red, but he answered honestly, “You’re still feminine, and...ell, I don’t generally think guys are pretty, so…there’s that...”

 

Pidge’s eyes went wide, frozen at the implied compliment.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable...I just…” he cleared his throat.

 

“Uh...no. Thanks,” she said quietly, uncertainly. “Um...maybe-uh...maybe we should finish training?”

 

“Yeah,” Keith nodded. “Sure. Bring out two more?”

 

“How about three? We didn’t need Lance’s ‘help’ anyways.”

 

Keith grinned and nodded, and they got into a defensive position as three more drones dropped from the ceiling.

 

* * *

 

Keith had been paying more attention to Pidge lately. Not only had they started training together since that first session, but he’d started dropping in on her while she worked on her personal projects.

 

Today, Pidge was trying to update the castle’s navigational system, and she was unusually unenthusiastic about the work.

 

“There have been some changes since this map was updated,” she informed him. “Some stars have collapsed, others have been formed and planets’ climates have changed.”

 

“Oh,” Keith nodded dumbly.

 

“Hunk, how are those long range sensors doing?”

 

“The sweep is done, and I’m sending you the information...now.”

 

Pidge nodded at the screen in front of her. “Okay, good,” she said flatly.

 

“Right. I’m gonna head down to the kitchen now and see if I can’t make us a snack.”

 

“Thanks for all of your help,” Pidge told him absently, poking away at the screen. After a minute, she stopped and looked up at Keith. “Okay, that should do it. It’ll just take a little while to transfer all the data.”

 

“Oh. Cool.” Pidge gave Keith an odd frown that made him look away, staring out at the stars instead. “Did Hunk say what he was making?”

 

“No, I don’t think so. He’s been trying to replicate chocolate, though, so my bets are on that.”

 

“Lance is gonna go nuts if he gets chocolate right,” Keith grinned.

 

Pidge hummed in agreement, and tracked the upload progress on the screen in front of her. “Well, this is going to be a few hours. That’s good, it’ll give us time.”

 

Keith blinked as Pidge wheeled around in her chair to face him. “Time for what?” He asked blankly.

 

Pidge pinned him with a calculating look. “Time to talk about what’s up with you lately.”

 

Keith felt the back of his neck flush. “What do you mean?”

 

“Dude,” she frowned. “Seriously. Why have you been so…” she struggled for the words and flapped her hand demonstratively towards Keith instead.

 

Keith opened his mouth, then shut it abruptly.

 

“Yes?” She urged, watching him struggle for the words.

 

“I…I don’t want to do anything that might complicate things for the team,” Keith said finally, hanging his head.

 

Pidge leaned forward a little, intrigued. “Okay…that was not at all like I was expecting.”

 

Keith chanced a look up at her and swallowed hard. “Voltron is really, _really_ important, and if I fuck things up...there’s a lot more at stake than...well, than just the original thing.”

 

“You’re getting _real_ cryptic here, Keith.” She paused, and added more seriously, “You know, the thing that lets us form Voltron is trust. Remember what Allura said at the beginning? That we have to trust each other completely. No secrets.” He pressed his lips into a tight line and averted his eyes, saying nothing until Pidge added, “Besides, if it’s something big enough that you’re worried and acting this weird, it’s probably going to affect the team anyways.”

 

Keith sighed. “I get it. Just...not-not right _now,_  okay?” He asked, almost pleadingly.

 

Pidge frowned, but nodded. “Sure. Just...go talk to Lance or Shiro or whatever, okay? I’m not good at this whole talking about feelings thing.”

 

Keith started to chuckle, slowly breaking into a full out grin. “Thanks, Pidge. I um-I think I’ll go train for a bit. Feel free to join me when you’re done. I mean, if you want.”

 

“Sure,” she shrugged. “I’ll see you in...like, ten minutes.”

 

Keith nodded, still smiling, and made his way to the training room. He had expected it to be empty, but when the doors opened, he heard the sound of footsteps and the _thwack thwack_ of Lance’s padded knuckles hitting a drone. Keith let the door shut behind him and crossed his arms, watching as a second drone dropped in behind Lance just before the first one went down.

 

Keith waited and watched until Lance drew his beyard, shot the drone in the forehead, and instantly dropped his defensive stance.

 

“Hey,” Lance made his over, wiping sweat from his temple.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Did you want to tag team for a round?” He asked uncertainly.

 

Keith shrugged. “Sure.”

 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Really? You sure you don’t want to wait for Pidge?”

 

Keith narrowed his eyes. “She’s going to be a few minutes still.”

 

“Aha!” Lance pointed a finger in Keith’s face, almost accusingly. “So you _are_ training with Pidge!”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’ve been training with her for a few months now. We _are_ a team, after all.”

 

“But you’ve been _extra_ chummy with her lately, haven’t you?” Lance wiggles his eyebrows unattractively.

 

Keith shook his head in annoyance, fighting back the flush that threatened to spread across his face. “Are we going to do a round, or what?”

 

Lance huffed. “Sure.”

 

Keith eyed him warily, then barked out a command for two drones as he and Lance took position in the center of the floor. The moment the drones hit the deck, they struck, one going for each Paladin.

 

Keith managed to dodge the initial attack and used the drone’s momentum to throw it to the floor. Behind him, Lance just barely braced himself against the hit. Vaguely, Keith recognized the sound of the door opening and caught the flash of Pidge’s green shirt as he fought.

 

Keith took down his drone pretty quickly, and as soon as he saw that it wasn’t getting back up, he turned around and practically shoved Lance out of the way to swipe at the other.

 

“Hey,” Lance squawked. Keith ignored him and shoved his beyard through its shoulder, effectively rendering the drone useless. “That one was _mine_ !” Lance huffed. “Just because you you wanna show off for- _oof_!” Keith lunged at Lance to stop the words from leaving his mouth, bringing him to the ground.

 

“Shut _up_ ,” he hissed. He and Lance locked into each other’s biceps, Lance trying to throw him off and Keith trying to push Lance back down.

 

“Y’know what? Why don’t I let you win?” Lance grunted out quietly. “Let you show off a little,” he winked.

 

Keith felt his face flush in anger and embarrassment. “God, will you shut _up_?” Keith pushed Lance away suddenly, and snapped to his feet, breathing hard.

 

Lance got up a little slower, and turned to Pidge. “Oh hey!” He called over to her, voice a little too casual. “Did you come to train?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Okay, cool. I was just…leaving,” Lance told her, giving Keith a sidelong glance. “Later!” He grinned, and practically skipped out the door, leaving a confused Pidge and a very red-faced Keith behind.

 

“Um...hey?” She said uncertainly.

 

Keith took a calming breath, and then another because the first came out as more of an annoyed huff. “Hey. So, do you want to pick a program?”

 

Pidge hesitated, but nodded. “Computer, begin training sequence ‘Pidge one seven four’.”

 

They took a defensive stance, back-to-back as four drones dropped onto the training deck, and they fell into the rhythm of combat without another word.

 

* * *

 

Pidge might not have been the best at reading people, but she knew there was something going on with Keith lately, and she was starting to suspect that it had something to do with Lance. Just that morning, Pidge had walked into the dining hall to see Lance leaning sideways up to Keith, speaking a few words too low for Pidge to have heard. She was curious about what it had been, because who _wouldn’t_ be, but she did know that whatever he’d said had been juicy enough to make Keith straighten his back and flush deep red with embarrassment. He glanced at Pidge for only a moment, nodding a curt greeting before he shot Lance a dark look.

 

Pidge only realized that she’d paused in the doorway when Hunk’s heavy footsteps coming up the hallway behind her spurred her to find a seat before he came barreling in with a platter of breakfast goo.

 

“Hunk, my man, that smells _amazing_ ,” Lance grinned.

 

“Thanks!” He beamed proudly.

 

Pidge couldn’t really smell it, so she poked at it instead as Lance and Keith watched her expectantly to gauge her reaction to the concoction of the day. She took a first, tentative bite, relieved to find that it actually _was_ good, and only as she dug enthusiastically into a second bite did the other boys reach for their own bowls of breakfast goo.

 

“ _Cowards_ ,” Pidge mouthed, so that Hunk, behind her, wouldn’t see. Lance managed to keep a straight face, but Keith glanced up at her with barely-contained laughter.

 

“Oh, I’ve got to check on the muffins!” Hunk remembered suddenly, and dashed back out towards the kitchen just as Keith broke and snorted into his bowl of goo.

 

“Good morning, Paladins,” Allura called brightly from the doorway, coming in just ahead of Shiro.

 

“Morning, Princess,” Lance shot her his most winning smile. “And Shiro.”

 

“Morning,” Pidge and Keith greeted much more subdued, but no less polite.

 

“And _goood_ morning,” Hunk spun back into the room with a tray of hot goo-muffins that he almost threw onto the table, shaking his burnt fingers frantically.

 

“Good morning,” Shiro took a seat at the table, bringing a bowl of breakfast over but not even taking a bite before he started on about their mission for the day. “I hope you’re all feeling ready to fly. Today, we’re going to be scouting out the home planet of...those green dudes-“

 

“Loralinites,” Allura supplied helpfully.

 

“Right. Lora-ites,” Shiro mangled. “They voluntarily left their home planet empty centuries ago to give the planet’s atmosphere time to heal from the damage their ancestors did to it. They’ve determined that the atmosphere and ecosystem is recovered fully and that they can start relocating back to their home planet now.”

 

“That’s right,” Allura smiled. “But with so many Galra in this sector, it’s our job to scout out the place and make sure that there aren’t any Galra already taking advantage of the unpopulated planet. Then, once it’s been deemed safe, we’ll be escorting the first colony back to their home.”

 

“Got it,” Lance said through a mouthful of food, nodding.

 

“Yeah, sounds pretty straightforward,” Pidge agreed, sliding a second bowl of goo over to herself.

 

“Great. Everybody eat up. I want to get moving by 0800 hours.”

 

 

 

The team suited up and made their way to their lions as they approached the planet. Pidge settled into the cockpit, giving Green’s control stick a fond pat before she turned on her comm link.

 

 **“-just** **_stop_ ** **already, guys?”** Keith’s voice growled out over the comm as Pidge joined.

 

 **“Green online,”** she informed them, and heard a few snorts of laughter from what sounded like Lance and Hunk.

 

 **“Okay, let’s get on with it,”** Keith came across teresely.

 

 **“Waiting on Shiro,”** Hunk said.

 

 **“Black online,”** Shiro said. **“Are we ready?”**

 

 **“** ** _Yes_ ** **, quiznack-let’s get moving already,”** Keith urged, and Lance cackled again.

 

 **“Move out,”** Shiro ordered, ignoring whatever was going on with Lance and Keith. They ejected out of their bays, arcing around the small planet in formation as Shiro started to give orders. **“Alright, we’ve scanned the planet with the castle’s technology, but there are a few places where the sensors may not have been able to pick up anything unusual. Pidge and Keith,”** he slowed near a mountain range. **“You check out around here. There’s a cave system through these mountains that the sensors couldn’t completely explore remotely. You two should be able to maneuver the best underground. Lance and Hunk; you two head toward the lake straight ahead. There’s a ravine and some steep cliffs just beyond there that need checked out.”**

 

 **“Got it,”** Lance answered, and just as Blue sped off ahead of Hunk, he added in a lower, teasing tone, **“Have fun down there, loverboy.”**

 

It took Pidge a moment to process just who Lance had been talking to but as Blue and Yellow streaked away, she heard a stream of expletives tumble out of Keith’s mouth; mostly threats directed at Lance.

 

 **“Meet back at the castle within two hours. Check in every twenty minutes,”** Shiro told them all, ignoring Lance and Keith’s antics.

 

 **“C’mon,”** Keith said roughly, breaking off toward the mountains. Pidge followed wordlessly, and as they scouted the caves below, she barely spoke except for what was absolutely necessary. The stifling stillness and dark underground made Keith uneasy and hyperaware, and he tried to move as quickly as possible so that they could get back to daylight. When they finally retreated to the safety of the castle, however, the knot of worry in Keith’s chest did not go away.

 

* * *

 

“Hey.”

 

Pidge jumped, blinking rapidly to clear the haze from her eyes as she turned from the screen in front of her to face Hunk.

 

“Hey,” she blinked again, taking a calming breath.

 

Hunk grinned. “Whatcha workin’ on?”

 

“Oh, it’s just a thing for the Princess’ language interpretation and extrapolation algorithms.”

 

“Huh. That sounds fun?” Hunk offered, with a smile and a half shrug.

 

“Super fun,” she deadpanned. “So, what’s up?”

 

“Oh, nothin’ really,” he said lightly. “Just saw you were looking a little distracted over here and thought I could help distract you some more,” he finished brightly, grinning.

 

Pidge glanced at the screen, then pushed it away. “Yeah, sure. It’s not really important anyways. You wanna take a walk?”

 

“Yeah. Observation deck?” Hunk asked. “I could shoot some Martians.”

 

“Definitely,” she grinned, and they set off for the spire that housed the Paladins’ quarters.

 

Hunk couldn’t even wait until they got to the top of the spire before he blurted, “So...what’s up with Keith?”

 

Pidge’s footsteps slowed. “Uh-?”

 

Hunk turned to face her, slowing his pace to match. “C’mon, Pidge,” he frowned. “Everyone can tell something’s up.”

 

“Can we just...not?” Pidge grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about him...not right now, okay?”

 

Hunk seemed to consider her for a moment, then wrapped one arm around her shoulders as he plastered on a grin. “Alright, let’s go play _Space Blasters 3000_.”

 

“Oh, man,” she perked up instantly. “Are you ready to get your ass kicked?”

 

“That’s what _you_ think,” Hunk laughed, and led her on down towards the elevator. Neither one of them noticed Keith, stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of a connecting corridor.

 

 

 

Later that evening, as the crew sat around the dinner table, Keith was quiet.

 

“Hey, you wanna go train?” Pidge asked, nudging Keith’s arm across the table.

 

He started, as if he’d been paying absolutely no attention to the conversations going on around him. “Uh-sorry,” he mumbled. “Gonna catch up on something else instead.”

 

Hunk and Shiro both paused to stare at Keith, although only Hunk was rude enough to ask, “Dude, are you _okay_ ? You _never_ say no to training.”

 

Keith’s head shot up with a glare and he looked between the blank faces of the whole crew, who had all stopped talking to stare at him, before he stood up abruptly. “Well, I just _did_.” He shoved away from the table and sidestepped to the door without another word.

 

“Oh-kay...” Hunk let out a frustrated huff of air. “I-I didn’t _mean_ anything by it.”

 

“It’s fine,” Shiro assured him. “Maybe...he’ll come around, okay?”

 

Pidge met Shiro’s eyes across the table and blinked as she realized that he’d been addressing _her_.

 

“Uh-right,” she averted her eyes and shoved a spoonful of food goo into her mouth.

 

“Paladins,” Allura spoke up, “After we escort the Loralinite colony to their new home, I think we should work on communication between the team. There are a few exercises that I’d like you all to try out on the training deck now that you’ve started to develop stronger bonds with your lions.”

 

“Great,” Shiro nodded.

 

“Great,” Pidge repeated, less enthusiastically.

 

Allura smiled as she pushed her finished plate away. “Wonderful. I’m going to get some rest. With any luck, tomorrow will go smoothly and without any Galra sightings, but I want to be well-rested just in case. I encourage you all to do the same.”

 

“I’m just gonna…” Pidge trailed off and slipped out into the hallway, heading the direction Keith had disappeared. She jogged a little to catch up to him, and finally caught sight of him turning the corner down a rarely-used side corridor. Pidge sped up, curious, but slowed when she reached the corner and couldn’t see Keith anywhere.

 

“Keith?” she called, and heard a sharp intake of breath from ahead. She went to the next corridor and found him sitting against the wall, legs splayed out in front of him, gazing up at her tiredly. “Hey,” she breathed. “You okay?”

 

Keith looked down, nodding. “I’m fine,” he said shortly.

 

Pidge hesitated. “Dude, are you _sure_? I-”

 

“I jus’ wanted to be alone for bit,” he murmured, keeping his head down.

 

“Right...okay. I’ll just...Let me know if you need anything, okay?” she told him gently, and waited until he nodded his head before she backed off slowly. “See you in the morning,” she said quietly, and slunk away towards her quarters.

 

* * *

 

 

The paladins had expected to escort the Loralinite colony back to their home planet with little to no difficulty. They hadn’t found any trace of Galra activity on the planet when they’d scouted it out, so they had gotten a little lax during the escort. That had been their first mistake. Lance was mid-yawn when Allura’s first warning rang over the comms.

 

**“Paladins, there’s a Garla vessel approaching! It’s-it’s a battleship.”**

 

 **“What the quiznack?”** Lance blanched.

 

 **“How did they find us?”** Pidge asked.

 

 **“I don’t know, but they’re moving in quick,”** Allura told them.

 

 **“We have to protect the colonists,”** Shiro said. **“They don’t have the shield technology to resist even a single hit from the Galra. We have to form Voltron** **_now._** **”**

 

The lions, who had been stationed evenly around the colonists’ ship, shot off toward the battleship in formation.

 

 **“Focus, everyone,”** Shiro’s voice rang out over the comm, as the paladins all started to realize the problem: nothing was happening.

 

 **“What’s going on?”** Lance was the first to ask. They were still hurtling toward the battleship, but they should have come together by now.

 

 **“Everyone, we** **_have_ ** **to form Voltron.”**

 

 **“Ahh, guys?”** Hunk asked.

 

 **“Pidge! Keith! Get it** **_together_ ** **!”** Lance squeaked.

 

 **“What-** ** _me?_** **”** Pidge asked incredulously.

 

At the same time, Keith snarled back, **“Shut up, I’m** **_trying!_** **”**

 

 **“Alright, new plan,”** Shiro spoke up, cutting off any more bickering. **“Hunk-take out the big gun. Lance, Pidge-you two give us some cover fire. Keith, get your jawblade ready.** **_Move!”_ **

 

They scattered, rushing in towards the Galra ship. A swarm of fighters burst from the hull as they approached, and Lance and Pidge hung back as they started blasting them out of the air while the rest of the lions kept charging ahead.

 

 **“Hunk, your nine!”** Pidge called.

 

 **“Got ‘em!”** Lance shot a few we’ll-aimed blasts from Blue’s tail and took them down before he refocused on clearing a path.

 

**“Thanks!”**

 

 **“The cannon is charging,”** Shiro warned.

 

 **“On it,”** Hunk answered, lunging forward with a burst of speed to shoot at the base of the big gun.

 

 **“It’s still charging,”** Lance squeaked.

 

 **“I said I got it!”** Hunk finally landed and gripped the the cannon in Yellow’s teeth, pulling _hard_. It cracked, and Hunk retreated just far enough to aim a hard shot to the weakened barrel.

 

Shiro and Keith flew down each side of the hull with their jawblades, leaving a trail of explosions in their wake.

 

 **“Paladins, the fighters!”** Allura called frantically. **“They’re going for the colonists! I don’t think I can get the castle there fast enough!”**

 

 **“No!** ” Keith came around with a burst of speed and rocketed to intercept the five lone ships that had broken off, followed closely by Shiro.

 

 **“If they take even a few hits, they’ll be done,”** Keith growled, and managed to throw his lion in front of a beam headed straight for the Loralinites.

 

 **“Keith!”** Shiro called, but the red lion was already shaking off the hit, hurtling toward the nearest ship which was about to fire. He managed to smash into it, throwing off its trajectory enough to send the blast off into empty space.

 

Shiro took a page from Keith’s play and dove in front of two more shots,

 

 **“Incoming!”** Lance fired off three shots in quick succession, taking out three of the fighters before he was drawn back to the bulk of the swarm.

 

 **“Thanks!”** Keith took down one more with a blast as it charged up to shoot for the colonists again. The last fighter was the one Keith had smashed, and it was making its way erratically closer to the Loralinite ship. **“Ah, quiznack,”** he growled, realizing what it was doing. Keith had damaged its weapons, so it was going to _become_ the weapon. He pushed closer, trying to get to an angle that would allow him to shoot without hitting the colonists himself.

 

 **“Do it, shoot!”** Shiro ordered. **“** ** _Now_ ** **!”**

 

 **“No,”** Keith growled. **“If I miss, the colonists are** **_done._** **”**

 

**“If you don’t shoot, they’re done anyways. Do it! Now!”**

 

Keith grit his teeth, pushing Red as hard as he could to catch up to the lone fighter. He tracked the the path it was taking to its end point and took a deep breath, holding it like he’d seen Lance do countless times before he took a shot. With only moments before impact, he fired.

 

Keith pulled back full stop to watch the explosion, trying to figure out if it had been his beam or the fighter’s impact.

 

**“Did it-?”**

 

 **“I don’t know,”** Shiro answered back, and Black shot off toward the blast.

 

Keith watched, frozen, as the smoke cleared.

 

 **“You did it,”** Shiro’s voice was just as relieved as Keith felt. **“The ship is undamaged. Nice shot.”**

 

 **“Thanks,”** Keith let out the breath he’d been holding.

 

**“Come on, let’s help clean up the rest.”**

 

* * *

 

The colonists were deposited safely back onto their homeworld, and with the help of Allura and Coran, they set up a small defense bunker just in case the Galra found them. They left them with a communicator and instructions to call on Voltron should anything happen.

 

It was a only two days after the fight that Shiro called everyone together on the training deck. The paladins and Allura sat in a circle in the middle of the room and waited for everyone to settle.

 

“Alright look” Shiro sighed. “We all know why we’re here. We couldn’t form Voltron the other day,” He paused as the rest of the Paladins hung their heads, and glanced over to Allura, who nodded encouragingly. “But we _know_ we can do it. We _will_ form Voltron again.” Hunk and Lance raised their heads to look at him again, but Keith and Pidge both kept their eyes down as he went on. “We know that our bonds to our lions are what allow us to pilot them, but it’s our bonds to each other than allow us to form Voltron. Allura has some of the training simulations loaded into this deck. We’ll run through them  _together_ , and we’ll work this out as a team.”

 

There was a beat, then Keith spoke up, “I-I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that Allura’s training exercises are going to help us.”

 

“Keith-” Shiro frowned.

 

“Not because...it’s just that,” he took a deep breath, “Look, the reason we can’t form Voltron: it’s me.” He finally raised his eyes to meet his teammates’ blank looks. “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s not Keith,” Pidge groaned, ducking her head to hide her red face behind her hair. “It’s me.”

 

“Guys, we can’t all blame ourselves,” Shiro started, but Pidge cut him off.

 

“No-you don’t understand,” she told them quietly. “It’s definitely me. I just…”

 

“ _Oh_ ,” Lance suddenly blurted, and suddenly all four Paladins and Allura were staring at him instead. Lance looked like he was just figuring out he twist at the end of a movie. “Uh…”

 

“Something you want to share?” Shiro frowned.

 

“Uh-nope,” he shook his head frantically.

 

“Paladins, the key to forming Voltron and working together is _trust._  There _can’t_ be secrets between you,” Allura sighed. “Whatever’s going on between you, you’ve _got_ to work it out. I want you all try try an exercise. Your lions’ bonds allow you to communicate not only with the lions themselves, but with each other. Usually, during battle, you five communicate both verbally, using the helmets,  _and_ instinctively through the bond. This exercise is meant to help you control what is communicated through he bond.”

 

Shiro cut in, “Basically, this is the Altean twist on the telephone game. You know, sit in a circle, one person whispers something in the next one’s ear until it come back around to the beginning and see if it’s still the same phrase. Instead of whispers, we’re going to be connecting to each other through our bonds in order to pass on the message.”

 

“I’d like you all to complete five rounds of this exercise, one with each of you beginning the sequence.”

 

“Okay, so...who’s first?” Lance asked.

 

“I’ll start,” Shiro volunteered. “Lance? Since you’re so eager to get going?”

 

“Alright,” he hesitated. “Do we have to like...look deep into each other’s eyes or what?” He blinked beatifically, clasping his hands to his chest.

 

Hunk snorted out a chuckle, but Allura answered seriously, “You should try it with your eyes closed and sitting apart from one another first, but if you have difficulty, it may help to look at each other or even hold hands until you’ve gotten the hang of it.”

 

“Ah-okay,” Shiro took in a breath and closed his eyes, and across the circle, Lance did the same.

 

For a few minutes, everyone sat still and silent, waiting for something to happen. It was only as Hunk had started to fidget that Lance let out a surprised yelp and his eyes shot open.

 

“Oh-kay that was _weird_ ,” Lance laughed.

 

“It worked?” Shiro prompted.

 

Allura spoke up before Lance could answer. “Don’t say the phrase aloud. Convey it to the next person as you understood it, and we’ll compare the results once everyone has had a chance to go. Good work, though,” she beamed.

 

“Okay, got it,” Lance nodded, and turned to Hunk. “Ready?”

 

“Uh-sure.” he shifted into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes, trying to focus.

 

There was a much smaller window of silence this time, perhaps only a minute before Hunk and Lance both opened their eyes.

 

“Oh, man that _was_ weird. Okay, who’s next?”

 

“I’ll go,” Pidge volunteered.

 

Hunk smiled at her and took a deep, calming breath as he closed his eyes again. It took a little longer this time, maybe five minutes before Pidge let out a surprised, “Oh!” and the rest of the room, who had started to wander about, looked over to her.

 

“Got it then? Pass it on to Keith,” Allura encouraged.

 

Pidge smiled a little as Keith sat up from where he’d been sprawled out on the floor. “Ready?” She asked, and he nodded as they both closed their eyes.

 

This time, they sat there for what felt like a long time. It was ten minutes before Allura intervened. “Perhaps you should try opening your eyes?” She suggested.

 

Pidge did so, glancing up at the bored teammates scattered about the training deck, and at the determined set of Keith’s jaw as he opened his own eyes.

 

“Just be patient, open your mind and feel your connection to the lions,” Allura instructed.

 

“O-okay,” Pidge sighed in frustration, and locked eyes with Keith, willing him to understand the phrase that Hunk had told her. It was more unnerving this way, staring directly into Keith’s eyes in a way that was too close, too intimate. She wondered, briefly, if she’d send more than she meant to, if he’d know just how hard she was focusing on not sending him any unintended thoughts. Panic spiked in her chest, and she saw Keith’s eyes flicker with worry, then his brows furrow.

 

“Take a break,” Keith said suddenly.

 

Pidge blinked, frozen.

 

“Perhaps that would be best,” Allura conceded. “Take ten minutes and then we’ll try again.”

 

Keith pushed himself up to his feet and extended a hand to Pidge. “Hey,” he said softly, so the others couldn’t hear. “Can we...talk?” He bobbed his head toward the corridor.

 

Pidge let out a long-held breath, and nodded once, jerkily before she let him pull her up. She ripped her hand back away from his quickly, feeling too warm and too sweaty.

 

“Be right back,” Keith mumbled as they passed Shiro.

 

They stopped just around the corner in the empty corridor, and Keith leaned against the wall. “Pidge, do I...scare you?” He asked worriedly. “I didn’t get a the phrase, but I felt...you were _terrified_ for a moment there.”

 

Pidge shook her head. “No, I wasn’t-I mean, I think I panicked, yeah, but...I’m not _afraid_ of you. I’m sort of…” she faltered. “God _damnit_ , why am I so bad at this?” She let out a steadying breath, and swallowed hard. “I just...I need to say this out loud, okay?”

 

Keith looked even more worried now, if anything. “Okay,” he said slowly.

 

Pidge met his eyes and blurted, “I’m sorry. It’s just...I know that it’s not a good idea to have feelings for someone else on the team, but...I...I can’t _help_ it.” Keith took in a sharp breath, his mind racing to understand. “And...Lance is a good guy,” she added, softer. “I don’t want there to be any hard feelings.”

 

Keith blinked, his face falling. So he’d been right, and while he was usually happy to be proven right, he had been hoping _so_ hard that he was wrong despite the conversation he’d heard the other day, and despite the way he’d seen Pidge blushing at Lance’s antics lately.

 

“Right,” Keith’s voice came out cracked and gravelly. “I’m sorry. I-For what it’s worth, I really do hope you’re happy with him.”

 

Pidge froze, blinking through wet eyes. “What?”

 

Keith swallowed hard. “You and Lance,” he told her. “I just want you to happy, even if it’s not with me.”

 

Pidge started shaking her head slowly. “Wha-? I-I don’t-? Why the quiznack would you think I was with Lance?”

 

Keith was lost now. “Because...you are?”

 

She raised both eyebrows high and blurted, “I thought _you_ were dating Lance!”

 

They stared at each other, and as Keith shook his head frantically, looking vaguely offended, she burst into laughter.

 

“Uh-?” Keith blinked a few times. “Pidge, I really like you,” he told her bluntly. “And I am _not_ dating Lance, and I’m not sure why you’d think that, but I thought that you were dating him because he’s always embarrassing you and because…”

 

“Because?”

 

Keith sighed, “The other day, I heard you and Hunk, and you said you didn’t want to talk about me. I...I thought it was because it was obvious how I felt about you and you weren’t interested.”

 

“I...I am. I just...thought I didn’t stand a chance against Lance,” Pidge breathed.

 

“You do. You...definitely do,” Keith told her.

 

Pidge let out a giddy little laugh and stepped forward into Keith’s chest. “Oh, god, we’re both idiots,” she declared, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

 

He pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face into her neck to chuckle. “Yeah, we kind of are.”

 

Pidge pulled back a little to meet his eyes for a moment, then surged forward to press her lips against his, reviling in the sharp intake of breath that told her she’d managed to catch him by surprise. He kissed back, firm but chaste, and cracked a grin as they parted.

 

“Oh, _god,_ ” Pidge groaned, letting her head fall back against his chest.

 

“Uh-?”

 

“The others,” she explained, her voice muffled by his pectoral. “They all _know,_ don’t they?”

 

“Oh...quiznack,” Keith huffed.

 

“...Me and Lance?” Pidge wrinkled her nose.

 

Keith laughed again at that. “Hey, we uh...we need to finish the-“

 

“The exercises,” Pidge straightened up quickly. “They’re probably wondering where we are.”

 

Keith couldn’t find it in himself to care, but he followed Pidge back to the training deck and they plopped down in the middle of the floor. It took maybe thirty seconds this time before Pidge managed to convey the message that Hunk had told her. Keith reared back with a strange look, “What the quiznack?”

 

“Tell it back to Shiro now,” Allura encouraged.

 

“Uh-okay,” Keith closed his eyes and willed the words on to Shiro, who promptly snorted with laughter.

 

“Oh, god. Okay. So going around, Lance, what did I tell you to begin with?”

 

“ _We’re making ice cream,_ ” Lance answered confidently, until Shiro raised an eyebrow, and turned to Hunk.

 

“ _We’re taking ice queens?_ ” Hunk said uncertainly.

 

Pidge winced, “ _We’ll take the nice scene_?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, “ _We’ll hit the night scene._ ”

 

Shiro tried and failed to keep a straight face. “I thought Keith told me _We’ll go at night and clean,”_ Shiro ran a hand through his hair. “Would you like to know what I actually started with? It was _We make a great team._ ”

 

“Oooh, that’s a way better one,” Hunk groaned.

 

“And Paladins, try not to convey the words themselves, but focus instead on the meaning of the thing you’re trying to get across. It seems like you all went for the English words and that seems to have led to much of the miscommunication.”

 

“Okay,” Shiro smiled patiently. “Let’s try it again.”

 

They got through four more rounds, getting a clearer and clearer understanding each time. They finally called it a day, and as they all stood up to leave, Keith was struck with a jolt of uncertainty. He hung back from the door awkwardly as the others passed until Pidge finally spoke up, meeting his eyes. “Hey, Keith? You wanna go talk?”

 

He nodded, relieved, and also a little too aware of Shiro’s eyes on them as they stepped out.

 

* * *

 

Keith was not a wordsmith. He was sort of a mess with words and feelings and communication, as if that wasn’t apparent enough from the very onset of his relationship with Pidge. They’d managed to talk through it, however embarrassingly, and decided that they wouldn’t even try to hide their relationship from the rest of the team. With so few of them in the castle, secrecy wouldn’t be easy anyways.

 

They showed up to breakfast the next day with their hands clasped, and Keith with a ridiculous smile on his face. Hunk just grinned at them, and Shiro nodded before he returned to his breakfast. It wasn’t a big deal, and they didn’t have to make it one. Lance apparently hadn’t been able to understand that, however, because although he had been late to witness their breakfast handholding, he definitely hadn’t missed the way Pidge’s hand splayed across Keith’s back as they walked in for dinner.

 

“What are you-?”

 

Pidge looked up to Lance’s suspicious gaze and rolled her eyes. “Yep,” she said simply.

 

“Finally,” Lance smirked.

 

Keith scowled, but Pidge managed to answer first. “It’s funny, actually,” she smiled widely, “Due to a slight misunderstanding or two, until yesterday, we both thought that each other was dating _you,_ ” she laughed.

 

Lance seemed to be having an aneurysm. “Huh?” He sputtered.

 

“Pass me the goo,” Pidge sighed. Keith smirked and handed her the bowl and pressed an innocent peck to her cheek just as Lance blew up.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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